Press Releases

May 2015

London Wine Week (18-24 May) has welcomed 8,000 visitors to this year’s festival, including more than 6,000 wristband wearers embracing the capital’s thriving wine scene.

The festival was launched in 2014 to coincide with the London Wine Fair, and comes from Drink Up London, the company behind October's London Cocktail Week, now in its sixth year and London Beer Week, which celebrated its first year in February.

The highlight of London Wine Week was the self-guided Wine Tours, designed to encourage consumers to discover new grapes, blends and vintages in the comfort of London’s best bars and restaurants. All week, more than 100 venues served tasting flights of wine to wristband wearers for £5 per flight, and early estimations show that with well over 10,000 flights served, more than £50,000 has been injected into the capital’s hospitality industry through this aspect of the festival alone.

A further selection of bars and restaurants put on dining offers for guests, and the festival also championed independent wine merchants by promoting drop-in tastings and discounts throughout the week.

This year, London Wine Week brought its hub to Devonshire Square in the heart of the City, utilising the iconic business and leisure district as the epicentre for pop-ups and events. Guests began their journey by collecting their wristbands at The Nyetimber Hub, where they enjoyed a free glass of Nyetimber English sparkling wine, before visiting pop-ups from Wines of Portugal, WineTubeMap, Mirabeau Rose, and Franciacorta all based in the vicinity.

Further afield, the festivities included a pop up from Celebrity Cruises who recreated The Lawn Club from the top deck of their iconic ships with renowned wine expert Oz Clarke, and a Secret Sale at London’s oldest wine merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd in Mayfair, as well as a multitude of masterclasses, tastings, dinners and parties.

London Wine Week Festival Director, Emma Murphy said: “We were overwhelmed by the response to this year’s festival, with more than double the number of wristband wearers getting out in London's bars to try new wines and expand their knowledge. It shows what a growing thirst there is for approachable and innovative wine events in the capital!”